(CEDAR CITY, Utah) - Southern Utah (8-17, 1-1 BSC) split a doubleheader with visiting Weber State (18-11, 1-1 BSC) as the two teams opened Big Sky Conference play at Kathryn Berg Field on Friday. The Wildcats built leads in both contests, with SUU rallying in the first for an 8-7 walk-off victory, before falling in the second by a count of 8-3.

Weber State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opener with an RBI double from Brooke Silva. SUU battled back within one in the bottom half of the second after catcher Lyndsey Healey hit a ball out to left center for her first home run as a Thunderbird. Kylee Wolf added a bases loaded walk to bring in a second run.

The Wildcats added another score in the third, but SUU evened things up as Healey plated two more runs with an RBI single in the fourth. WSU retook control in the final inning with an RBI double from Mylee Davis and a run-scoring single for Brooke Ford.

The T-Birds went into their last turn at bat down three, and quickly gave away two outs. Wolf started a rally by singling up the middle and Henderson followed with another base hit to load the bags. Two runs came in on back-to-back errors by the Wildcats and SUU trailed by just one with the bases still full. Healey put the ball in play down the third base line and another defensive miscue allowed Cora Cordova and Henderson to reach home, clinching the 8-7 win for Southern Utah.

Jordan Theurer (4-5) earned the win by tossing four innings of relief. The freshman pitcher racked up three strikeouts and gave up three runs. Jasmine Ioane (4-2) was charged with the loss after allowing six runs on six hits over 3.2 innings.

SUU started the second game with a 2-0 edge as Madison Resley and Terysa Dyer each drove in a run in the opening frame. Weber State came back to put up seven runs on eight hits in the following inning however to once again build a lead. The Wildcats came up with four doubles and two home runs during the streak.

The visitors added to the margin with another score in the top of the sixth and then held off another potential SUU rally in the last inning to come out on top, 8-3. Resley grounded out for the Thunderbirds’ final RBI.

Katie Greenberg (2-4) allowed six runs on six hits before being relieved by Theurer. She worked four innings before Ariel Hart closed out the final two. The Wildcats also used three pitchers as Kylee Colvin got the start before giving way to Morgan Allaband (1-3) who came on in the third and tossed four innings to earn her first win of the season. MaCauley Flint came in to throw the bottom of the seventh.

The two teams meet again Saturday for the series-deciding finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. with coverage available online at www.suutbirds.com.